After living a "decent" life, my time on earth came to an end. The
first thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of what looked
like a court house. The doors opened and I was instructed to come in and have a
seat at the defense table. As I looked around I saw the prosecutor - a
villainous looking man who snarled as he stared at me. He definitely was the
most evil person I had ever seen. I sat down and looked to my left, where,
seated, was my lawyer - a kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed
familiar to me. The corner door flew open and the judge appeared, dressed in
full flowing robes. He commanded an awesome presence as he moved across the
room. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. As he took his seat behind the bench,
he said, "Let us begin."

The prosecutor rose and began his opening statement, "My name is Satan
and I am here to show you why this man belongs in hell." He began by
describing the lies I had told, things I had stole, and how I had cheated others
in the past. Satan told of other horrible perversions that were once in my life
and the more he spoke, the further down in my chair I sank. I was so embarrassed
that I couldn't look at anyone, even my own lawyer, as the Devil told of sins
that even I had completely forgotten. As upset as I was at Satan for revealing
all those things about me, I was equally upset at my representative, who sat
there silently - not offering any form of defense at all. I knew I was guilty of
all those things, but I had done some good in my life - couldn't that at least
cancel out part of the bad things I had done? Satan finished with a fury and
closed by saying, "This man belongs to me in hell, since he is guilty of
all these charges, and there is no person who can prove otherwise."

When it was his turn, my lawyer first asked if he might approach the bench.
Satan yelled, "I object!," but the judge remarked, "Overruled,"
and beckoned my attorney to come forward. As he got up and started walking, I
was able to see him in his full splendor and majesty. I realized why he seemed
so familiar. My attorney was Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Savior. He stopped at
the bench and softly said to the judge, "Hi Dad," and then he turned
to address the court. "Satan was correct in saying that this man has
sinned. I won't deny any of these allegations. And yes, the wages of sin is
death, and this man deserves to be punished." Jesus took a deep breath and
turned to his Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, "However, I
died on the cross so that every person might have eternal life. Since this man
has accepted me as his Savior, he is mine." My Lord continued, "His
name is written in the book of life, and no one can snatch him from me. Satan
still does not understand that this man is not to be given justice, but rather
mercy." As Jesus sat down, he quietly paused, looked at his Father and
replied, "There is nothing else that needs to be done. I've done it
all."

The judge lifted his mighty hand, slammed the gavel down, and bellowed from
his lips, "This man is free. The penalty for him has already been paid in
full. Case dismissed!"

As my Lord led me away, I could hear Satan ranting and raving, "I won't
give up, I'll win the next one." I asked
Jesus as he gave me my
instructions where to go next, "Have you ever lost a case?" Christ
lovingly smiled and said, "Everyone that has come to me and asked me to
represent them has received the same verdict as you, Paid in Full."

11/13/2018 01:00 PMTake Up and Read: C.S. Lewis’ Case for the Christian Faith
I am writing this ongoing blog series on Reflections to encourage Christians to read more vigorously and enrich their lives with Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully, a brief introduction to these Christian texts will motivate today’s believers to, as St. Augustine was called in his dramatic conversion to Christianity, “take up and read” (Latin: Tolle lege) these excellent… ()

11/06/2018 01:00 PM3 Things You May Not Know about C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis may have been the most important Christian thinker of the twentieth century. His modern classic Mere Christianity was the first Christian book I ever read back in my early college days. And that book played an important role in shaping my early faith and motivating my interest in Christian apologetics. I’ve gone on to read and reread many of… ()

10/30/2018 12:00 PMDebating Denominational Differences while Non-Christians Watch
Christian unity is very special to me as a believer in Jesus Christ. In fact, I feel called by God to promote truth, unity, civility, and charity among all who embrace the historic Christian faith. Personally, I would much rather talk about what all historic Christians affirm theologically than discuss the doctrinal distinctives of my particular theological tradition. I guess that is… ()

10/23/2018 12:00 PMTake Up and Read: Orthodoxy
I am writing this ongoing blog series on Reflections to encourage Christians to read more vigorously and enrich their lives with Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully, a brief introduction to these Christian texts will motivate today’s believers to, as St. Augustine was called in his dramatic conversion to Christianity, “take up and read” (Latin: Tolle lege) these… ()

10/16/2018 12:00 PMSkeptical Challenge: How Do We Know the Content of Jesus and Pilate’s Tête-à-Tête?
Some people attempt to justify their unbelief of Christianity on the grounds that the Bible contains irreconcilable difficulties and contradictions. One important role Christians serve in an apologetics-evangelism context is to try to remove obstacles that people have to believing in the truth of Scripture and thus in the truth of historic Christianity. I once heard an atheist ask how… ()

10/09/2018 12:00 PMTake Up and Read: An Introduction to the New Testament
I am writing this ongoing blog series on Reflections to encourage Christians to read more vigorously and enrich their lives with Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully, a brief introduction to these important Christian texts will motivate today’s believers to, as St. Augustine was called in his dramatic conversion to Christianity, “take up and read” (Latin: Tolle lege) these excellent… ()

10/02/2018 12:00 PMThe Christian Apologetics Mandate
The Greek word apologia (Greek: ἀπολογία) is the root for the English term “apologetics.” Apologia and its root forms are found in the New Testament (Acts 26:2; Romans 1:20; Philippians 1:7, 16), with 1 Peter 3:15 revealing the mandate imploring Christians to be ready to explain and defend their faith. Throughout Christian history, apologetics became known as the enterprise by which apologists sought to give a reasoned defense of the truth of… ()

09/25/2018 12:00 PMTake Up and Read: Knowing God
I am writing this ongoing blog series on Reflections to encourage Christians to read more vigorously and enrich their lives with Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully, a brief introduction to these important Christian texts will motivate today’s believers to, as St. Augustine was called in his dramatic conversion to Christianity, “take up and read” (Latin: Tolle lege) these excellent… ()

09/18/2018 12:00 PM6 Straight A Christian Thinkers
The Christian church has been graced with brilliant and influential thinkers since its inception. A list of “who’s who” in Christian scholarship would be long and diverse in terms of scholarly disciplines. To whet your appetite in the areas of theology and philosophy, here’s a snapshot of six “straight A” thinkers. By “straight A,” I mean two things. First, I’m… ()

09/11/2018 08:40 PMTake Up and Read: Making Sense of It All
I am writing this ongoing blog series on Reflections to encourage Christians to read more vigorously and enrich their lives with Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully, a brief introduction to these important Christian texts will motivate today’s believers to, as St. Augustine was called in his dramatic conversion to Christianity, “take up and read” (Latin: Tolle lege) these classic… ()